Government agencies are implementing virtualization, cloud computing, and mobile devices and applications to help keep costs in line and deliver quality services to the public.

Regional Cloud Hubs

Such moves
to the cloud are expected to become more common among government agencies. A
new type of government cloud service has emerged that could significantly
change the way state and local governments procure online computing services,
says Shawn McCarthy, research director at IDC Government Insights.

Using
"regional cloud hubs," one government agency offers computing
services to other government agencies, McCarthy says.

"In
many cases, moderate or even zero capital expenditures are needed to take
advantage of cloud offerings," he says. "The solutions are either
developed in-house or are commercially developed private clouds dedicated to
government use and designed to meet specific government standards."

This
evolution of cloud computing has the potential to trigger several
"game-changing" consequences, McCarthy says. For the host facility,
it can turn a government agency cost center into a revenue center. "By
selling cloud solutions to other government organizations, host agencies can
offset their costs," he adds.

In addition,
local governments can buy cheaper cloud solutions than they might find on their
own, and they might be able to reduce capital expenses, McCarthy says.
"Cloud services already are replacing internal client/server as the main
model for government application delivery," he states.